Panic is a sudden sensation offear, which is so strong as to dominate or preventreason andlogical thinking, replacing it with overwhelming feelings ofanxiety,uncertainty and franticagitation consistent with afight-or-flight reaction. Panic may occur singularly in individuals or manifest suddenly in large groups asmass panic (closely related toherd behavior).
The word "panic" derives from antiquity and is a tribute to the ancient godPan. One of the many gods in themythology of ancient Greece, Pan was the god of shepherds and of woods and pastures. The Greeks believed that he often wandered peacefully through the woods, playing a pipe, but when accidentally awakened from his noontime nap he could give a great shout that would cause flocks to stampede. From this aspect of Pan's nature Greek authors derived the wordpanikos, "sudden fear", the ultimate source of the English word: "panic".[1] The Greek term indicates the feeling of total fear that is also sudden and often attributed to the presence of a god.[2]
Apanic attack is a sudden period of intensefear and discomfort that may includepalpitations, sweating,chest pain, shaking,shortness of breath,numbness, or a feeling of impending doom or of losing control. Typically, symptoms reach a peak within ten minutes of onset, and last for roughly 30 minutes, but the duration can vary from seconds to hours. Though distressing, panic attacks themselves are not physically dangerous. They can either be triggered or occur unexpectedly.
In psychology, there is an identified condition calledpanic disorder that has been described as a specific psychological vulnerability of people to interpret normal physical sensations in a catastrophic way.[3] It is related strongly to biological and psychological factors and their interactions.[4] Leonard J. Schmidt and Brooke Warner describe panic as "that terrible, profound emotion that stretches us beyond our ability to imagine any experience more horrible" adding that "physicians like to compare painful clinical conditions on some imagined 'Richter scale' of vicious, mean hurt … to the psychiatrist there is no more vicious, mean hurt than an exploding and personally disintegrating panic attack."[5]
Panic in social psychology is considered infectious since it can spread to a multitude of people and those affected are expected to act irrationally as a consequence.[6] Psychologists identify different types of this panic event with slightly varying descriptions, which includemass panic, mass hysteria,mass psychosis, andsocial contagion.[7]
An influential theoretical treatment of panic is found inNeil J. Smelser'sTheory of Collective Behavior. The science of panic management has found important practical applications in the armed forces and emergency services of the world.
Prehistoric humans used mass panic as a technique when hunting animals, especiallyruminants.Herds reacting to unusually strong sounds or unfamiliar visual effects were directed towardscliffs, where they eventually jumped to their deaths when cornered.[citation needed]
Humans are also vulnerable to panic and it is often considered infectious, in the sense one person's panic may easily spread to other people nearby and soon the entire group actsirrationally, but people also have the ability to prevent and/or control their own and others' panic by disciplined thinking or training (such as disaster drills).
Architects andcity planners try to accommodate for behaviors related to panic, such asherd behavior, duringdesign andplanning, often usingsimulations to determine the best way to lead people to a safe exit and prevent congestion orcrowd crushes. The most effective methods are often non-intuitive. A tall column or columns, placed in front of the door exit at a precisely calculated distance, may speed up the evacuation of a large room, as the obstacle divides the congestion well ahead of the choke point.[8]
Many highly publicized cases of deadly panic occurred during massive public events. The layout ofMecca was extensively redesigned bySaudi authorities in an attempt to eliminate frequent crushes, which kill an average of 250pilgrims every year.[9]Football stadiums have seen deadly crowd rushes and stampedes, such as atHeysel stadium inBelgium in 1985 with more than 600 casualties, including 39 deaths, atHillsborough stadium inSheffield,England, in 1989 when 96 people were killed in a crush, and atKanjuruhan Stadium inIndonesia, in 2022 when 135 people were killed in a crush.
^Cavarero, Adriana (2010).Horrorism: Naming Contemporary Violence. New York: Columbia University Press. p. 5.ISBN9780231144568.
^Durand, Mark; Barlow, David; Hofman, Stefan (2018).Essentials of Abnormal Psychology. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning. p. 132.ISBN9781337619370.
^Barlow, David; Durand, Mark (2012).Abnormal Psychology: An Integrative Approach, 7th edition. Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning. p. 139.ISBN9781285755618.
^Leonard J. Schmidt and Brooke Warner (eds),Panic: Origins, Insight, and Treatment (Berkeley CA: North Atlantic Books, 2002), xiii
^Radosavljevic, Vladan; Banjari, Ines; Belojevic, Goran (2018).Defence Against Bioterrorism: Methods for Prevention and Control. Dordrecht: Springer. p. 142.ISBN9789402412628.
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